UMass-UConn rivalry may take a vacation

HARTFORD - After a 10-year run, the UConn men's basketball program has played its last game against UMass. At least, for the near future.

The series that was renewed in 1996 as the MassMutual U-Game no longer makes sense for the Huskies, according to school officials. For UConn to play a non-league road game these days, the opponent really has to fit neatly into two categories:

It has to be a big-money, TV game against a marquee program such as Duke or Michigan State. Or, it has to be a homecoming for one of the Huskies, i.e. Rice for
Emeka Okafor
or Houston for Jake Voskuhl.

Although UConn coach
Jim Calhoun
- a self-proclaimed "New England guy" - would like to start another regional rivalry, the Huskies really don't have a whole lot of options.

With home games in Hartford generating almost $500,000 in ticket sales, it hardly makes sense to pass up the payday, especially if men's basketball helps bankroll the UConn athletic department.

"We've got a lot of pressure on us to play Rhode Island because
Tom McElroy
was here and he keeps calling us," Calhoun said, referring to the Rhode Island athletic director, who used to be UConn's senior associate director of athletics. "Of course, (Rhode Island coach) Jimmy Baron is a good friend of mine, too.

"It doesn't mean that we're not going to do the UMass game...But if they win, the series will definitely continue," Calhoun added, only half-kidding. "I mean that honestly. I can guarantee you, right now. If they win, we will not let them walk away with a win.

"I used to play my assistants all the time 3-on-3...As soon as I won the last game, it was over. Until that point, it wasn't over."

As for McElroy, he would love to play UConn in men's basketball, but he doesn't expect it to happen any time soon.

"I would be more than happy to play a home-and-home series with the
University of Connecticut
in any sport that makes sense," McElroy said Thursday.

Case in point: The Rams, who play Division I-AA football, will open the 2006 season at Rentschler Field. But that's a guarantee game, a likely blowout that will stuff about $150,000 in Rhode Island's pockets.

For new UMass coach
Travis Ford
, however, the UConn series is over before it began.

"You look at the games the two teams have played. I think they've been exciting games," Ford said, choosing to overlook UConn's 8-1 advantage going into Thursday night's game. "I really didn't know too much about the rivalry until I got here....It's probably more for the fans than anything."

All hands on deck: With only eight scholarship players, Ford is relying on versatility as much as talent this season.

Maurice Maxwell
, a 6-foot-5 junior from Philadelphia, is splitting time between point guard and small forward.
Jeff Viggiano
, a 6-6 senior from Suffield, is playing on the wing as well as the low post.

"It's not the greatest situation you'd want," Ford conceded. "But when you're trying to start something like we are, that's often the position that you're in."

This and that:
Steve Lappas
, the deposed UMass coach, came to watch UConn practice recently as a guest of Calhoun....Thirteen NBA scouts attended Thursday night's game....UConn is off for the next nine days for final exams. The Huskies will next face New Hampshire on Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. in Hartford.